If you find that you never quite can get a hold on your money, you might want to try calculating your debt-to-income ratio to get it down in black and white.

Sure, it's easy to stick your head in the sand and pray that the $24K car note will magically be paid off whilst working at Mickey D's for minimum wage, but it might be a better idea to crunch some numbers (or research your budget more) before getting in over your head. Plus, it's extremely reassuring (at least to me) to see everything down on paper - it gives me a bigger picture of what I need to change.